Eric Burdon - Year Of The Guru Lyrics






My leader told me to jump in the river
The river was deep and the weather was winter
After a sailer very kindly saved me
My leader told me, you'd better take it easy
I took it so easy my leader called me lazy

Through the lack of red meat
Everything was getting hazy
Friends looked at me and said
Man, you gotta be crazy

Oh, oh leader

My leader said son you'd better get yourself together
Never mind the fools who know what we're getting into
But a forty mile walk would do us both a world of good
And he sat down and watched me take off down the road

Well, I walked so far my feet began to bleed
If this was good for me I just couldn't see it
A motorist picked me up and said
Look man, you must be crazy

Oh, oh leader
Oh, oh leader

My leader came to see me in a hospital bed
Well at least I really knew that my leader really cared
After giving me a second-hand roach
He said where's your donation man
It's all for a good cause

He left me all alone to work the riddle out
But I just couldn't make it so I began to shout
They stuck a hypodermic deep down into me
Said, look out nurse I think we got a loony

Oh, oh leader
Okay baby follow me now
Follow your leader
All right

Now here I sit in a state-run asylum
Limitless, friendless but much more together
I decided to do some good book readin'
About the art of people leadin'

Now I'm the leader and they're being led
What's the matter if they're crazy till you hear what I've said
Being the leader is really where it's at
But just how long can a good thing last

Oh, oh leader
Oh, oh leader

Now listen to this baby
This is the year of the guru
Now the thing to do is to ask yourself
What can a guru do for me?
Then you say to yourself
I gotta get a guru





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Eric Burdon Year Of The Guru Comments
  1. R.... H....

    Best rap I ever heard !! I love Eric so much

  2. S.... R....

    Our group is a huge Burdon fan, but we don’t care for this release. It seems like Burdon is lost and just wasting his beautiful voice during this phase of his life.

  3. c.... s....

    JayZ you could take a lesson. Wait they play instruments, I forgot. What was l thinking.....TJ STRUSKA

  4. D.... B....

    It's rap which I ABSOLTELY HATE, but this is acceptable.

  5. R.... K....

    What an exciting album. Eric has a really good band here. They were fantastic live.

  6. R.... K....

    Great live singer with a good band.

  7. v.... g....

    🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤

  8. P.... K....

    Distorted guitar and bass to open this song are magnificent!

  9. m.... s....

    So the first like rap rock song

  10. C.... W....

    TREMENDOUS ALBUM! Eric created four mind blowing psychedelic releases as good as Hendrix, Cream or anyone else. Criminally neglected.

    C.... W....

    TOUT A FAIT D'ACCORD !
    Quand en 67 Eric est parti aux EU après la dissolution des Animals, il a créé un nouveau groupe et s'est engouffré dans le psychédélisme.
    Cet album est un vrai chef d'oeuvre !

    C.... W....

    the twain shall meet and Winds of change are magnificent albums, especially "we love you Lil' Floyd before Floyd got there.

    C.... W....

    When l Was Young is Psychedelic with London working class edge...TJ STRUSKA

    C.... W....

    Yes I bet on your comment....

  11. A.... P....

    Rap rock is better than today's modern rap. Agreed?

    A.... P....

    Pretty cringy comment, but ok i guess

  12. c.... ....

    Un chef-d'œuvre qui mérite amplement de détrôner plein de fausses valeurs de 1968 rabâchées ad nauseam. Insolent, inspiré, insurpassable. Et visionnaire.

  13. P.... F....

    Apart from the Rap vocals , this band kicked arse . Dual lead guitars , funky bass , however on this song Danny McCulloch used a plectrum . It sounds so clean . George Bruno's great piano . So cool , like a brothel in New Orleans .

    P.... F....

    Those vocals are amazing dude, rap before its time.

    P.... F....

    You are right , great vocals .

    P.... F....

    lol...loved that last line. earliest rap I ever heard was a delta blues song I once heard from an some blues guitarist from the 30s. I have spent decades trying to find out who the artist was and the song. So far, no luck. But it was rap!

  14. H.... B....

    Does anyone know if Eric Burden and the Animals ever played this song live?

    H.... B....

    Can't imagine that they didn't but that info should be readily available on the net somewhere.

    H.... B....

    A ma connaissance, jamais sur scène...
    Hélas !

    H.... B....

    Non, hélas !

    H.... B....

    No idea, but if they did it must have sounded wicked.

  15. f.... e....

    J'ai écouté cette chanson un milliard de fois... et je la mettais dans les booms. Un rock incroyable.
    Malheureusement, je n'ai jamais vu Eric la chanter sur scène. Probablement difficile de suivre le rythme, les guitares et le piano...
    Extraordinaire morceau. Mes 18 ans !

  16. K.... K....

    It's a great piece of 60's music. Bass line driving hard. Burdon sing talking works well. Can't stand rap-"music", so this, obviously isn't it.

    K.... K....

    This is rapping. And rap is a form of music if you like it or not.

    K.... K....

    I never go so far as call rap music.

    K.... K....

    Why not? Because you're racist?

    K.... K....

    LOL...yeah. You get it, Manson...

  17. G.... B....

    와!!! 정말 대단하다!! Awesome!!

  18. R.... P....

    Gangsta of rap before its time😎

    R.... P....

    My exact thoughts!

    R.... P....

    Eric's rapping about psycho hippie cult leaders like Charles Manson so absolutely.

  19. M.... ....

    The first rap rock song!, but not is rap or hip-hop.

    M.... ....

    You're right - it's too good to be crap.

  20. P.... W....

    Great song, ahead of its time. Great lyrics.

    P.... W....

    The rap element puts it ahead of it's time for sure.

    P.... W....

    It's just a shame I don't like rap.

  21. M.... ....

    Perfect song.

  22. J.... G....

    The first time I heard it on France Inter's Popclub (José Arthur)
    I was then in the French army (68).
    The best ever.
    Even more cynical and funny than Lennon's Instant Karma.
    Love it now and still hear it a t least once a week.
    This song makes you feel good against all religion (as Cathedral by CSNY!)
    Blessed are you, Eric, if there were any god...

    J.... G....

    I mean the best SONG, not the best army... (though not the worst!)

    J.... G....

    Cher Jean-Claude
    Je mettais ce morceau dans mes booms à Brest...

  23. D.... D....

    Pigmeat Markham's "rap song" 'Here Comes The Judge' also came out in 1968. The gospel group The Jubilaires's song 'Preacher And The Bear' also sounded a lot like rap way back in the '40s!

    D.... D....

    Then there's 'The Music Man' from 1962 (movie)

  24. S.... ....

    What a Gang ! Burdon was a close close friend of Hendrix & Jagger among other well known names.
    I own this album as well since a while (but not since the old days though!)
    This song is a classic  easily my fave on the album
    Modern music hardly can reach this state !
    Yoga / Ecology / Vegetarians & other New Age stuff... Many Gurus knew that and preached for a new age before "the new age scene" even officially started.
    "Early" New Age was often linked to psychedelic drugs experiences
    Many Gurus were Avant-Garde Mr (some deserved slaps though!)

  25. A.... ....

    hip hop is shit! Never!
    Only Rock'n Roll !!!

    A.... ....

    Arthur Moreira Neto not even, hip hop is fuccing great

  26. �.... �....

    far ahead of timeeeeeeee...

  27. J.... H....

    Declamation, maybe. Is  Red Light King  OLD MAN rap?

  28. M.... S....

    I absolutely hate rap crap, but I like this song. Of course, I love most anything that Eric Burden sings.  :-)

    M.... S....

    @Marsune S No connection with crap rap whatsoever. THIS IS REAL VINTAGE POP MUSIC,  MAN!Made at a time bands were inspired AND gifted

    M.... S....

    Jean-Claude Genoud-Prachex rap is not crap

  29. C.... Z....

    If Will Smith did Red Hot Chili Peppers, this is what it would sound like.

  30. S.... ....

    Eric has always been innovative. The songs of Eric Burdon and the Animals were part of the psychedelic rock scene and incorporated it into their songs in many ways, contributing to the diversity of the genre as well as to the development of prog rock (Sky Pilot) and possibly even Punk Rock. (When I Was Young.) This song, however, created the genre known as Rap Rock, introducing rapping techniques while keeping on rocking hard before anyone else thought about it. And the result is awesome!

  31. M.... ....

    This is not rap

    M.... ....

    Rap didn't existed in '68, duh...

  32. M.... ....

    So is this the earliest rap song mixed with blues rock?

  33. M.... S....

    Eric Burdon is a god in his own right. I know, I met him a couple months ago!

  34. C.... G....

    yesss this is the first rap

  35. T.... ....

    The bass on this is FAT!

    T.... ....

    Danny McCulloch was a great bass player .

  36. M.... M....

    you sound old.

  37. c.... ....

    First rap song!

  38. s.... ....

    Fantastic band....I met Eric in Melbourne, Australia in the mid 80's...he was really spaced out !!!

  39. C.... ....

    One could argue that Bob Dylan's Subterranean Homesick Blues fits the definition of Rock/Rap as well.

    This is awesome though.

  40. T.... L....

    awesome song, awesome quality - THANKS! :)

  41. r.... .....

    yes the first rap, rap-rock song EVER!!!, what a great group was Eric Burdon & The Animals, with these albums, winds of change, twain shall, every one, love is, its the definitive eric burdon band, better that any other band before and after, its a shame that not continued for a little more, with its caracteristic sound of rhytm and blues, rock, psych, garage sound mixed, and with his great lyrics

    r.... .....

    oh yeah!

    r.... .....

    Their best line up!

    r.... .....

    I first heard this this in 1969 when my big brother bought Eric Burdon and The Animals Greatest Hits album .Yes , I believe , Eric invented Rap . But ! He got it from somewhere .

    r.... .....

    Paul Fuller: Check out Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali) ~ "I Am The Greatest" ~ 1964. Eric as an Englishman may have been more influenced by Rex Harrison's 1964, "Why Can't A Woman Be More Like A Man?"

    r.... .....

    I agree and their 'We Love You Lil' is Pink Floyd before Pink Floyd got there i feel.

  42. L.... ....

    Was Eric Burdon one of the first rappers?

  43. p.... ....

    One of my favorite albums from this era.

  44. G.... ....

    I'll never get bored of this tune! Wicked!